Unified Experimentally Constrained PID/LQR Optimization for MRD-Based Semi-Active Suspension Control in Electric Vehicles

The rapid adoption of electric vehicles, together with increased battery mass and altered load distribution, is placing greater demands on ride comfort and suspension adaptability, while controller optimization may still request forces beyond the instantaneous capability of the physical semi-active actuator if experimentally supported force limits are not explicitly enforced. This study proposes a unified experimentally constrained optimization framework for a magnetorheological damper (MRD)-based semi-active suspension system using a two-degree-of-freedom quarter-car model. The damper is characterized at eleven current levels and represented by a branch-dependent lookup model that provides the zero-current baseline and instantaneous feasible force range. Proportional–integral–derivative (PID) and linear quadratic regulator (LQR) controllers are independently tuned using a genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) under identical vehicle dynamics, objective functions, tuning excitation, and MRD force constraints. Each candidate force demand is projected onto the experimentally derived feasible range throughout optimization. The controllers are tuned on a composite B–C–D profile and subsequently evaluated over nine road–speed scenarios. PID-PSO reduces the RMS sprung-mass acceleration by 15.91% and achieves the best acceleration performance in six cases, whereas LQR-PSO provides more balanced improvements in body motion, suspension travel, tire response, and force feasibility. The proposed framework therefore provides a more physically constrained basis for the comparative design and evaluation of MRD-based semi-active suspension control.